Sales director of Sterling, Lorraine Ince, said: “It’s impossible to imagine life at Sterling without Damian. I, like many others, was privileged to know him on a personal level. Damian had that rare quality: he was a gentleman - someone you wanted to spend time with, to have a joke with and most of all, to have on your team.”

Regan (above) started his career in the recruitment industry more than 15 years ago and joined Sterling on 6 December 2004. A statement from the company said: “During these six and a half years, Regan became an integral part of our success and developed relationships with many people within recruitment across the UK, a lot of whom got to know him very well and would be deeply missed by all.”